Simple Symmetry’s top 10 Soviet film OSTs

Following a prolific 2016, the first Disco Halal offering of the year comes courtesy of Sasha and Sergey Lipsky AKA “The Russians.” As Simple Symmetry the fraternal duo laid down a marker early on, weaving a globetrotting dimension into their dancefloor constructions. Where the followup presented pan pipe-flavoured house complete with African vocal samples, transportive debut Incredible Adventures In Khazar Khaganate had a distinctly Eastern tinge. Referencing a medieval Turkic civilisation, it was a clear indicator of their style and paved the way for this upcoming DH debut, Plane Goes East.

A soundtrack for an imagined motion picture, the OST version is predictably cinematic but also outward looking and expansive. Stabs and ascending arpeggios of luminescent synth join the fray on the dance mix, while brooding, shaman-brewed concoction ‘Voodoo Your Ex’ closes proceedings on yet another bewitching Disco Halal 12″. Ahead of its impending release, the Lipsky brothers have curated a playlist of soundtracks excavated from the annals of Soviet cinema history.

1. Eduard Artemyev – Siberiade Theme (1979)

Siberiade is a Soviet film about a very small god-forgotten village in Siberia which portrays the history of Russia from the beginning of the century till early 80s. The epic soundtrack was written by Eduard Artemyev – one of the greatest Russian composers of electronic music and film scores.

2. Yuri Chernavskiy – Blue Ball OST (1984)

Yuri Chernavsky is a Soviet musician, composer and and owner of on of the best collections of synthesisers in the Soviet Union in the 80s when it was almost impossible to buy musical instruments from abroad. In this soundtrack to Rosaline Zelma’s cartoon he shows off some of the gems in his collection as well as his melodic sensitivity.

3. Aleksandr Sinitsyn – VVS (Assa OST)

Assa is a 1988 Soviet crime film directed by Sergei Solovyov. It became a cult film,mostly thanks to the fact that it was one of the films that brought Soviet rock music from the underground into the mainstream. This dark and slow new-wave song sounds pretty experimental and fresh to this day. You might have heard it in Ivan Smagghe sets, who plays the edit by KGBK.

4. Gennadiy Gladkov – Gold (Formula of Love OST)

Formula of Love is a 1984 Soviet romantic fantasy comedy film about a magician who sets out to prove human power over the gods by fabricating love without the influence of the gods. We like the musical theme in the beginning much more that the actual movie. Check Russian producer Lipelis edit of this theme here on 44:06.

5. Mark Minkov – Song of Magician Sulaiman (Little Muk OST)

Musical fairy tale produced in 1983 is based on Gauf’s Little Muk tale and takes us on a journey to Middle Asia. The main character here is a boy who is forced to leave his family behind and travel around the world. “Song of Magician Sulaiman” is this crazy Middle-Asian inspired art-rock song by Mark Minkov.

6. Javanshir Guliyev – Ashik Kerib OST

Ashik Kerib is a 1988 film by the Soviet-Georgian and Armenian filmmakers Dodo Abashidze and Sergei Parajanov Wandering minstrel Ashik Kerib falls in love with a rich merchant’s daughter, but is spurned by her father and forced to roam the world for a thousand and one nights – but not before he’s got the daughter to promise not to marry till his return. It’s told in typical Paradjanov style overlaid with amazing ethnic music written by composer Javanshir Guliyev.

The Legends of the Ancient Peruvians is a Soviet cartoon made in 1978 which, as its name implies, is based on tales of Peruvians who lived about 1800 years ago. Cosmic new age in this cartoon is a result of a collaboration by Eduard Artemyev, whom we’ve already mentioned above and Yuri Bogdanov, a brilliant sound engineer and the first person to bring a Synthy 100 synth from UK to the USSR.

8. Vladimir Martynov – Box with a Secret OST (1976)

Valeriy Ugarov is a filmmaker who produced the most psychodelic Soviet cartoons. This particular one was largely inspired by The Beatles Yellow Submarine. The music here was written by a composer Vladimir Martynov – drawing from Baroque music and art-rock, he used AHC and Synthy 100 in this OST.

9. Evgeniy Krylatov – The Visitor From the Future OST

Soviet science fiction movie about Alisa Selezneva, a girl from the future that travels to the 1984 and Kolya Gerasimov, a boy, who lives in the year 1984 and travels to 2084. The kids in the Soviet Union were glued to the screens and watched the movie to the last title, so they could listen to this epic space-disco theme by Evgeniy Krylatov in the very end.

10. Alexey Rybnikov – Milky Way (The Big Space Travel OST)

The Big Space Travel (1975) is one of the first experiments of the Soviet cinema in a “Space fantasy” genre. Three teens are selected for a flight Astra space ship. The children are subjected to crises and breakdowns, they have to deal with all sorts of problems in outer space. Listen to this amazing song by soviet composer Alexey Rybnikov, that sounds like a never heard before epic psychedelic space-cowboy ballad by Ennio Morricone.